And persuaded them to settle everything on just terms: This clause makes the next verse, where Maccabeus agreed to the proposed terms, sound a bit odd. It also sounds odd that he had to persuade Judas to accept just terms. Judas would certainly not be inclined to accept unjust terms. What the writer seems to be saying is that Lysias offered Judas a fair deal, and urged him to accept it. Verse 15 makes it clear that the terms were in fact fair. Settle everything means to arrange for peace. We suggest the following model for the first half of this verse and the previous clause: “So he sent a message, 14 saying that he was ready to end the war [or, stop fighting], and urging Judas [Maccabeus] to accept the terms he was offering, which were fair.”

Promising that he would persuade the king, constraining him to be their friend: As the footnotes in Revised Standard Version and Good News Bible indicate, the Greek text here is not clear. However, most scholars agree that the sense given by Revised Standard Version and Good News Bible is at least close to what the writer intended. Part of the problem—and this may have been the problem for the scribes as well—is that it sounds odd to have this government official, even a high-ranking officer, promising to force the king to change his policy toward the Jews. (The Greek word for constraining means to force or compel.) However, it helps to remember that at this time King Antiochus~V was still a boy, and Lysias was probably in a position to get him to agree to anything. This passage does not mention Antiochus’ age, but see the comments on verse 1. We think it legitimate to help the reader by pointing out this information in the models below, but translators who feel otherwise may certainly omit the references to the king’s youth. The last half of this verse may be rendered “He promised that he would put pressure on [young] King Antiochus to become a friend of the Jews” or “He assured them that he could convince the [young] king [or, young King Antiochus] to become a friend of the Jews.”

Quoted with permission from Bullard, Roger A. and Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on 1-2 Maccabees. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2011. For this and other handbooks for translators see here.